Chaos Panic Disorder
by Willow-Bee the Cat
Summary: After the DoM, Harry finds himself caught up in events which lead to startling discoveries about himself and others. Harry soon finds himself pitted against both Voldemort and Dumbledore. IndependantHarry, slightly dark Harry. Crossover with Marvel Comics
1. Prologue

AN: I know, I know, I really shouldn't be starting another story. I need to finnish the ones I already have written. Unfortunately inspiration struck and this is the result.

Disclaimer: I don't own or make a profit from Harry Potter or Marvel Comics.

Rating: T... for now. It may go up later.

Spoilers: Through OotP for Harry Potter (HBP will mostly be ignored). For Marvel... that'd be telling.

Timeline: Begins right after OotP for Harry Potter. For Marvel... just assume somewhere in the 90s back when X-Force, X-Men, X-Factor, Excalibur, Fantastic Four, and Avengers were all running around.Stryfe the Chaos Bringer, Apocalypse, Mr. Toliver, all alive.

Pairings: Harry/Luna, mentions of Sirius/Lily, Sirius/? (let's just leave it as a canon female charcter from Marvel), Remus/Tonks

Prologue

March, 1979

"Don't you think it odd?"

Peter Pettigrew blinked at Remus Lupin, unsure of what to make of the question. "Huh?"

"Think about it Wormtail." Remus sighed and shook his head. "Maybe I'm imagining it."

"Imagining what?"

"After four years of swearing that she would rather kiss a dementor, Lily agreed to go out on a date with James. It just seems odd."

Sure, it was kind of odd that at the end of sixth year, Lily had yelled at James for over an hour for being an "immature prat" who enjoyed "torturing those weaker than him" and then agreed to go out on a date with James on the second day of seventh year. James wasn't even acting any differently. He had just gotten better at avoiding being caught. Even after Auror training, James was still a practical joker.

If anybody had matured, it would be Sirius. Over the past couple of years Sirius's jokes had become less cruel and mean spirited (except in the case of Snivellus, who really did deserve it. Snivellus had tortured the younger students on a regular basis and referred to all Muggle-Borns as mudbloods). Peter didn't know what had happened, but somewhere between almost killing Snivellus, being thrown out by his family, and seventh year, Sirius had grown up.

"Maybe Lily changed her mind about Prongs."

Remus shrugged. "I suppose it's possible. We should get going. The weddings in a couple minutes."

"Why are you bringing this up on Prong's wedding day, anyway?"

"It was just something that… bothered me. Don't worry about it."

Following Remus out of the room, Peter reminded himself that he shouldn't care about his blood-traitor friends or James's mudblood intended. They would be dead soon enough.

* * *

Anybody who looked at Hit-Wizard Sirius Black at the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans would see a cheerful man who, despite being an all around rogue had acted the part of the perfect gentleman. Nobody bothered to find out that Sirius's cheerfulness was just an act.

Not that Sirius had any intention of letting his happy façade slip. Sirius watched Lily and James exchange vows, wishing the entire time that it was him, not James. He watched Lily's vacant expression, the way her smile didn't quite reach her dead, dead avada-kedavra-eyes and cursed the day he had befriended James Potter.

As James slipped the wedding band on the appropriate finger, Sirius acknowledged that he should have known something was wrong with James long before the start of seventh year. James had obsessed over Lily for nearly a decade, since the beginning of third year.

Lily was the only woman who had ever refused James, something James would spend hours on end ranting about. Lily had never shown any interest in James. Over the years James's pranks had grown in level of danger, cruelty, and size, all culminating in the last full moon Christmas break, their sixth year…

"_Don't worry about it, we wont actually let him die, just scare him a bit."_

_Sirius thought it over carefully. Remus would kill him if he found out what they were planning. And doing all this to get the attention of a girl? When would James understand that Lily wasn't interested in him?_

"_But telling him how to get past the Womping Willow?"_

"_Stop being a pansy. Snivellus deserves it."_

How could he not have realized there was something wrong with James then? He'd known it was wrong, known it was an unforgivable betrayal, and he still went along with it.

_Sirius sat in the chair, staring ahead unseeingly. He could feel Dubmledore's eyes on him, the customary twinkle gone._

"_Mr. Potter has already told me what happened, Mr. Black. According to him, you told Mr. Snape how to get past the Womping Willow, knowing he would encounter Mr. Lupin in werewolf form. You then bragged to Mr. Potter and Mr. Pettigrew about your actions. If not for Mr. Potter's quick thinking, Mr. Snape would be dead."_

_He said nothing in his defense. What was the use? Everybody would believe James over himself. After all, Sirius was a member of the Black family. He was obviously a Dark Wizard._

James had "apologized" a couple days later, not that Sirius cared any more. The only reason Sirius was a Gryffindor and not a Slytherin was because he'd had no desire to be around Narcissa (that idiot was amazingly annoying). The hat had taken Sirius's reluctance to be around his cousin as a desire not to be placed in Slytherin.

Knowing that the only way to survive as a member of a "Dark Family" in a "Light" house was to act the part of a "light wizard," Sirius had quickly befriended James and Remus (both were from notable "Light Families"). He'd also made it quick clear that he "despised dark magic in all its forms."

Sirius had certainly been successful. By now everybody thought him to be the typical light wizard. He had no intention to disabuse this image of himself. And quite honestly he thought Voldemort an idiot. Many of the Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods he knew were more intelligent than Pure-Bloods.

Even the Black family acknowledged that new blood was needed every once in a while to ensure that a family did not become too inbred. His own great great grandmother was a Muggle-Born. His uncle, Alphard, had made it clear that, judging by Bellatrix, it was probably time to bring new blood into the family once more. A half-blood or Muggle-Born.

Not that Sirius ever intended to marry. Not after… perhaps it was best not to think of such things. Sirius had little doubt that if he brooded too much over the past he would give in to his desire to hurt James, badly.

* * *

April, 1996

Remus let out a growl after Harry's head disappeared from the fire. "After his head shrunk a bit? James's head never shrunk."

"What was I supposed to tell him, Moony?" Sirius asked quietly. "The truth? That's not something which can be told in two minutes."

"But giving him a false image of his father? The others may not know what the real James Potter was like, but we do. We can't keep lying to him about this."

"Do you want me to tell him about what James did to Lily? We both know that Harry wouldn't deal well with it." Sirius shook his head.

"We can't keep lying to him either. Some of the things James did made Cissy look like a light witch in comparison."

Sirius looked down. "He'll blame us for not interfering. He was Muggle raised. He doesn't know our laws well enough to understand that we couldn't help Lily."

"I'm sure somebody's told him of the position women hold in the wizarding world."

"He's a Gryffindor and his best friend is a Weasley. He's never had a reason to question because most Gryffindors aren't Pure-Blood or come from families that don't care about tradition. I doubt Arthur or Molly would have told him that a witch is the property of her head of house until she marries and becomes the property of her husband. Do you really think he's been told that most women work only with the permission of their male guardian? He never got the introduction to the wizarding world that Muggle-borns receive."

Remus's eyes widened. "Why didn't they-"

"He's a Half-Blood, they thought he knew," Sirius explained. "We did our best to help Lily, we'll just have to hope Harry understands."

* * *

June, 1996

A large, black, grim-like dog sat in the back of an alley, reading a newspaper. The Daily Prophet was not particularly accurate or truthful, but it would have the information he needed.

Near the back of the newspaper was an obituary for Sirius Orion Black. According to the obituary Sirius Black had died in an attempt to break into the Department of Mysteries along with a dozen other Death Eaters.

At least he knew it had worked. Now to get a message to Harry…


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Harry blinked as a raven landed on his windowsill. Did he know anybody with a raven as a familiar? He didn't think so, but one could never be too sure. It could belong to somebody from the DA… or somebody out for his blood.

Harry gave a mental shrug, Either way somebody had sent him a letter on his first evening back with the Dursleys, something which had never happened before. But the blood wards Professor Dumbledore had told him about should protect him from somebody trying to curse him through the mail.

With that in mind Harry got up to open the window. A small gray owl landed next to the raven as Harry unlocked the window. Despite being wary about the unusual number of letters, Harry opened the window.

The owl dropped the letter on his bed and flew out the window before he could stop it. Not that he would have. The raven flew through the window, landing atop Dudley's broken globe.

"Have you got a letter for me?" asked Harry, checking the bird's leg. He untied the letter, saying, "Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry?"

The raven flew to Hedwig's empty cage (she was out hunting), and squawked "Nevermore," before drinking some water from the bowl.

Obviously somebody had been reading a bit too much Poe. He opened the letter in his hand. Not recognizing the handwriting, Harry checked the signature. With a laugh Harry sat down at the desk. He should have known the raven belonged to her.

_Hello Harry,_

_I hope your vacation is going well. Please try to enjoy yourself; I doubt Stubby Boardman would have wanted you to be unhappy. _

_Daddy and I aren't going to go to Sweden after all. He needs to stay here what with you-know-who being back. I suppose we'll search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks later on. _

_My article on man-eating rabbits is coming out in the next issue. The Muggle Government's use of genetically engineered attack rabbits is a very important matter. Rumor has it they being trained to assist Muggle marines who hunt dark sorcerers._

_Is it true that students have no homework the summer after they take their owls? Do you know what you plan to do after graduation from Hogwarts? I do hope you know that Aurors are involved in the Rotfang Conspiracy. It would probably be best to stay away from that line of work. _

_The ministry is not to be trusted. But I'm sure you already knew that. Is Fudge still trying to send you to Azkaban? _

_I need to go now. My father is calling. _

_Luna_

_PS: I'm going to ask my raven Lenore to stay until you either give her your reply or ask her to leave._

Luna was… strange to say the least. There were times when he began to doubt her claim of being as sane as he was (generally whenever she opened her mouth)… then again, his "saving people thing" wasn't exactly a mark of sanity either.

And you had to be a bit crazy to willingly play Quidditch. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie could practically read each other's minds. Not to mention that the three of them willingly dated Fred, George, and Oliver respectively. Fred and George… well those two were in a category all their own. Oliver Wood had an unhealthy obsession with Quidditch. He probably never would have bothered to get a girlfriend if not for the time Katie kissed him after Lockhart had de-boned Harry's arm (he'd heard about the incident later on from Fred and George). As for Ron… one had to question the sanity of a person that willingly spend time around the human bulls eye better known as Harry Potter.

"Why don't' you rest there for a bit, Lenore," said Harry. "I'll send you out with my reply soon."

Putting down Luna's letter, Harry walked over to his bed. Harry felt the blood drain from his face upon seeing the handwriting on the envelope. Sirius's handwriting.

He dropped onto the bed and carefully picked up the letter. Harry slowly opened the envelope and took out the letter.

_Harry,_

_If you're reading this, then I'm dead. I don't want you to blame yourself for your marauding tendencies. Blame Moony. I know I do. _

_When I died, it was an escape from a very grim place, very much like my childhood. I knew I was going to die before it happened; there was nothing you could have done to stop this death from occurring._

_I don't suppose you remember the first time we encountered each other after my escape. I know that spent most of that year trying to commit the crime I was convicted of, but before I could begin my hunt I had to make sure you were alive and relatively well, considering Dumbledore had picked your guardian._

_If I could go back to where we first met, I would take you away. Far, far away from the Dursleys and Voldemort and Death Eaters. But we both know that you would never abandon your people. If I had the chance, I'd teach you everything I knew. Everything and anything that had the change of helping you survive the coming war._

_It's not like you could go back to where we met nearly three years earlier. How could a dead man wait for you there in his animagus form until you arrived?_

_I just wanted to make sure you didn't blame yourself for my death, pup._

Snuffles 

Harry knew quite well what the letter meant. For a moment Harry considered yelling and screaming, but common sense won out.

The code words had tipped him off. The summer before he and Sirius had worked out several code words to put into conversation and letters. The first was marauding. In combination with mentions of his death, Sirius had essentially told him that he'd faked his own death. The second was the word pup. It was their signal that they were to meet. Obviously at Magnolia Crescent, the only location Sirius had mentioned.

Sirius was offering to take him away from the Dursleys and teach him how to fight. He'd be waiting there for at least a day or two. Although that was a bit obvious.

How to get out of here without tipping anybody from the Order off… Unless it was Moody out there, his invisibility cloak would work. But would it cover his trunk as well?

But they'd be expecting the invisibility cloak. Maybe if he… that'd work. As he moved to repack his trunk, Harry's eyes fell on Lenore, Luna's familiar.

He jotted out a quick letter. One he hoped Luna would understand. Luna, insane though she probably was, was trustworthy. And few would believe anything she had to say if she did betray his trust. As far as he knew, even the professors at Hogwarts thought her completely unstable.

* * *

The retired Auror known as Mad-Eye Moody leaned against a tree, keeping guard. Though covered by an invisibility cloak, Moody made sure to leave no evidence that he had ever been there, including footprints.

He'd watched the Potter boy with his magical eye all evening. At first there had been nothing interesting, the boy unpacking, reading for a while, that sort of thing. The birds had obviously delivered important messages, judging by the flurry of activity. Potter had sent off a letter with one of the birds, repacked his trunk, and was now trying to sneak out the back door of his house.

Moody watched as the boy cut though his neighbor's yard. If anybody but him had been on guard duty, Moody knew they never would have seen the boy sneak out. With a mental sigh, he set off after the boy, keeping a safe distance between them.

At the end of the block Potter stepped out onto the sidewalk, pulling his trunk behind him. Potter walked for several blocks, eventually stopping on a street named Magnolia Crescent.

What was Potter doing? The boy was now leaning against a brick wall, his wand in hand. After a couple moments, a large, black, dog that bore a striking resemblance to a grim walked out from behind some bushes.

As the dog changed back into a human, Moody muttered several curses under his breathe. He should have known Black would loose to the likes of LeStrange so easily. Even with the time he'd spent in Azkaban, Black wouldn't have taunted LeStrange like that unless he wanted something in particular.

For a moment Moody took in Black's appearance. If one were to go by the photos on his wanted posters, he'd be unrecognizable. He was cleaner than he'd been at HQ, his hair was cut so that it reached only an inch or two past his shoulders and tied back in a ponytail. He was dressed as a Muggle in jeans and a white t-shirt which showed some of the tattoos on his arms.

All in all, it was unlikely that anybody would realize that Black was Sirius Black, escaped prisoner and wanted criminal. He watched Potter hug Black and gave a mental sigh. Black looked… positively paternal. Anybody who had spent any time around Black eventually realized that Black considered Potter to be the son he never had (despite what Molly and Granger thought, Black certainly did not treat Harry Potter in the same way he had treated James Potter. Anybody who had watched James and Black together would eventually notice the underlying tension).

Black was more than just a competent wizard, at one point he'd been one of the best Hit-Wizards around. Hit-Wizards were the wizarding world's version of the CIA, MI-5, FBI, NSA, and Interpol, to name a few. They were much better trained than Aurors and generally far more dangerous. Black would doubtless be better at protecting Potter than the guards.

Moody turned, and started walking back to his post, already thinking of what he would say, should he be questioned. Like most of the Order, he had heard the first part of the prophecy concerning Potter and Voldemort. If Potter were to stand a chance, he would need whatever training Black could give him.

* * *

Pulling away from the hug, Harry couldn't help but ask, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"If Dumbledore or Snape found out what I was planning, they would have stopped me," said Sirius. "And they're both better at legilimency than you are at occlumency."

Harry tried to find a way to argue with Sirius's reasoning, but he couldn't. "Does Professor Lupin know?"

"He helped me plan it." Sirius straightened up, looking a bit more cheerful. "Got everything? Where's Hedwig?"

"She's out hunting. But she'll be able to find me later."

"Grab your trunk. I'll need to take us there with duel apparition."

"Where?"

"Doesn't matter. We'll only be there long enough for you to change and practice a bit before we head out."

"Practice what?" asked Harry as Sirius took his arm.

There was a long, horrible moment when Harry felt like he was being pulled through a straw. Fighting the urge to wretch, he looked around.

He wasn't sure where they were, but from the looks of it, the middle of nowhere fit nicely. They were in a thick forest, several yards away from a road.

"Come on," said Sirius, walking deeper into the forest.

With a mental shrug Harry walked after him. Several minutes later, they came upon a small clearing. In the clearing were two motorcycles. Sirius picked up a bundle and handed it to Harry.

"Why don't you go out there and change while I put your stuff in your saddlebags."

"I don't know how to ride a motorcycle. I don't even know how to ride a bike," protested Harry. Sure, they were cool… really, really cool, but Harry didn't feel like becoming road pizza anytime soon.

"That's why you're going to practice on that road out there before we actually head out." Sirius made shooing motions. "Now go change. Word of warning, I had Tonks buy them for you so…"

Harry nodded, understanding exactly what Sirius was getting at. "Does she know?"

"Yeah. Couldn't let Tonks and Andie think I was dead, they're family."

* * *

Sirius checked the bike once more. All the spells were anchored and working properly. He'd bought the bike for Harry shortly before being confined to Grimmauld place. Having already retrieved his own motorcycle from Hagrid, he spent the better part of the last year fine tuning both.

Both motorcycles had dissilusionment charms strong enough for both the machine and any passengers, silencers for when in the air, several charms that ensured that Muggles did not detect them, notice-me-not charms for when in the air or when the rider wanted to avoid unwanted attention, flying charms, several charms to ensure that the bike never ran out of gas, and several charms that made it impossible for the bike to break. On top of all that there were several spells that ensured that the elements would not harm the rider.

As a child Sirius had ridden both a bicycle and a broom. In his opinion riding a broom was much more like riding a motorcycle than riding a bicycle. The only way to explain it was the way brooms moved.

Looking through Harry's trunk, Sirius felt grateful that he'd had Tonks go out and buy clothing for Harry. He'd seen street urchins wear better clothing. Tonks had found out Harry's size from Molly, claiming it was for a birthday present. He took out two knitted sweaters (probably from Molly) that looked like they would fit then closed the trunk and shrank it. Grabbing the saddlebag full of clothing, Sirius put the trunk into a hidden pocket.

He had just put the sweaters into the saddlebag when Harry walked back into the clearing. At least Tonks hadn't made Harry wear pink.

Harry wore a well fitting pair of jeans, motorcycle boots, a t-shirt with a picture of the Clash on it and leather jacket a size or two too large (Sirius had insisted that Harry be able to wear the jacket after his next growth spurt, whenever that might be). Sirius glanced at Harry's hair, which was cut the same, horrible way it had been in the past three years.

"When was the last time you got a hair cut?" asked Sirius.

Harry shrugged. "I think I was nine."

_She was curled up on his couch when he got home from work. Her arms wrapped around her knees as she cried. _

"_Lily?" he asked. "Are you alright?"_

_She looked up, brushing away her tears. Sirius barely refrained from saying several words which, in his opinion, should not be said in front of ladies. The right side of her face was a mess of bruises. He could see more bruises on her left arm where her sleeve was bunched up._

"_I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I didn't mean-I just-and he-and I didn't know where else to go…"_

Sirius shook his head, banishing the image from his mind. "Never mind. Grab you're bike and wheel it out to the road."

"Are you sure about this?'

"Can you ride a broom?"

Harry gave him a look. "Of course I can."

"Then you can learn to ride a motorcycle. They're not that different."

* * *

Luna walked down the hallway, on her way to the kitchen. There were times that she rather disliked how much her father moved about. She always ended up lost for the first couple of days. By the time she'd figured out where everything was, they were moving again.

Sure, they had that house several miles outside of Ottery St. Cathpole, but they hadn't lived there in years. The house had been bought for her mother, Roxanna. It seemed sometimes that her father thought that, even in death, the house of her mother's territory. Admittedly, they did spend some time there, generally a day or two during the summer, but then they'd head off to one of her father's other properties.

There were times when Luna began to wonder if her father owned property in every country on every continent. Then she began to wonder how her father had the time to edit the Quibbler. From what she understood, her father viewed the Quibbler as a hobby, something to work on when his other business left him too stressed.

Currently they were on a small island off the coast of Britain. As far as she knew, her father owned the entire island.

She entered the kitchen, pausing when she saw who was in there. Sometimes some of her father's employees frightened her. Especially this woman.

"Hello Miss Carlysle," said Luna, heading for the fridge. "Is Mr. Wilson here today?"

"You're back from school?"

"Yes Miss Carlysle. The school year ended two days ago."

"Did you really get into a battle?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I thought your father sent you to that school to keep you away from danger."

"Daddy sent me to Hogwarts to get an education." Luna took some deli meat. Hopefully there were enough ingredients for a good sandwich.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"Why did you get into that fight?"

She looked down, carefully putting her sandwich together. "I knew beforehand that it was a trap. I knew that we would be outnumbered. I knew that, except for our leader, we were hopelessly outclassed. There is a difference between what is easy and what is right. I chose what was right."

Luna watched Miss Carlysle watch her. It wasn't so much the woman as her powers that bothered Luna. Who would be frightened of a woman that could take your life? A woman who could become anybody.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Luna sat in the lotus position, meditating. She carefully shielded, avoiding letting anybody else accessing the astral plane from finding her.

She tried to meditate everyday, but sometimes she forgot. Other times she found herself someplace and could not remember how she had gotten there. At times Luna was quite sure that her legs were in control and she was just along for the ride.

Luna had already decided that it would be for the best if she stayed out of her father's way for a couple days. He'd looked so angry when he'd found out about her involvement in the battle at the Department of Mysteries.

But Luna understood why. Although her father came from a matriarchal society in which there were just as many female warriors as there were male, her father had not wanted that life for her. He'd specifically chosen her mother because she'd been both a healer and a Muggle doctor. Luna knew that her father had hoped that Luna would follow in her mother's footsteps.

Her father's reasoning was sound, all things considered. Among her father's people, it was taboo to harm a healer, even in times of war. He just wanted his only child to be protected.

And Luna had to admit that she found medicine fascinating, but she could no more avoid fighting than she could stop a rampaging Snorkack. The problem was, her conscience had not allowed Harry and the others to go off into a battle they were ill prepared for alone.

Her father had made sure that she knew how to defend herself. He'd spent a good portion of each summer teaching her hand-to-hand combat techniques. For all that he wanted Luna to become a Healer, he couldn't let his daughter go out without knowing how to defend herself.

"Hello Lenore," Luna said, not bothering to open her eyes as her familiar landed.

After several moments, Luna stood and stretched. Once done with that she took the letter from Lenore and gave the bird what was left of her sandwich.

She hadn't been sure that Harry would write her back. She knew that most of her classmates considered her insane, not that she cared. They'd probably have a run-in with a Jackalope or something. Then she'd be proven right. As for Harry, while he didn't believe in many of the things that were spoken of in the Quibbler, he didn't try to convince her they were ridiculous either. And he'd been much nicer to her than her housemates.

_Luna,_

_I have no doubt that your article will be interesting. Who do I need to talk to about a subscription to the Quibbler? Do you know how much it costs? I'm sorry you didn't get to go to Sweden to search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Do you know if you'll be going next year? _

_No, I don't have any homework. But I'm going to be studying this summer. Stubby has already made arrangements for me. I'll be back in time to catch the express. _

_Unfortunately I now have no idea what to do with my life. I'd originally planned to become and Auror, but considering what the ministry is like, it'd probably be for the best if I tried for a different type of employment. So what's the Rotfang Conspiracy?_

_Harry_

* * *

Harry couldn't help but grin as they flew over the city. The cross-Atlantic journey had been… fun to say the least. Harry had to admit that once he got the hang of it, riding a motorcycle was just as fun as riding a broom.

He wasn't exactly sure what city it was, but they were coming in for a landing. Harry was just grateful that the silencing, notice-me-not, and disillusionment charms were still active. If not for them, they'd undoubtedly cause quite a stir.

Following Sirius's lead, he slowed the bike to around forty miles an hour. Very carefully, he steered the bike so that it gently met the pavement of the deserted street. A moment later all the extra charms had been turned off.

Sirius led him to a parking garage about a dozen blocks away. A minute later Sirius pulled into the left side of a parking space. He motioned Harry over.

"Put it in the same space," he said. "We're only allowed one space as part of the lease."

Harry rolled his bike next to Sirius's, careful to stay within the space. "Lease?"

"Sirius Nigellus leases a two bedroom apartment four floors up," said Sirius.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Remember the Latin he'd learned over the years (Greek and Latin were mandatory courses for first through third years at Hogwarts), Harry couldn't help but translate. "Little Black Dog. Isn't it a bit obvious?"

"Firstly, they think I'm dead. Secondly, they wouldn't look for me in Muggle New York City. No self-respecting pureblood would consider living in the Americas. Thirdly, they're not looking for me. Fourthly, they're about to be far too busy with the war to investigate a dead suspected Death Eater."

"Oh," said Harry. "Who am I, then?"

"Harold Nigellus, my nephew. Now grab your saddlebags and follow me." Siriur paused. "Remus was the one who bought your furniture. It you don't like anything, feel free to transfigure it."

"Uh, I'm underage."

"Not in the Americas, you're not. Neither North nor South America has any version of a government for magic users. There's nothing to stop you from using your powers."

"Don't remember any of this from History of Magic."

"Binns never talks about anything but Goblin Rebellions. I don't know how they expect anybody to pass their OWLs, let alone their NEWTs."

* * *

Hestia Jones watched the house, waiting patiently for any sign of Death Eater activity or even an appearance of the boy she'd been sent to guard. Deciding that Harry Potter was probably sleeping in, she turned to watch the street.

* * *

Emma Frost sat behind her desk, the model of serenity. Inside her mind was racing. Later that day another member of the Hellfire Club would arrive at the Massachusetts Academy. What the man wanted was anybody's guess.

There were reasons that Emma had tried to avoid this particular member of the London branch. Not only was he the Black King, but he was also a member of a family that had been with the Hellfire Club since it was founded.

The Black family was feared for good reason. Not only were they magic users, but many were also sociopaths or psychopaths. This particular member of the Black family had been sent to jail for killing thirteen people in broad daylight for no apparent reason. That in and of itself was cause to make Emma hesitant about having such a man in a school.

Unfortunately he was far too dangerous to refuse.

* * *

Harry woke to the sound of somebody banging on his door. With a yawn, he demanded, "What?"

"You need to get up. You have an appointment and we need to leave in half an hour," came Sirius's reply.

"What appointment?"

"An… ally of mine is going to see if Snivellus really taught you anything and if he did any harm," he explained. "Wear black."

"Why?"

"I'll explain later."

Sighing, Harry got up and began to search for something to wear. The closest he had to a plain black shirt was a black t-shirt with a cartoon like picture of the Ramones on it. Grabbing that, a pair of black jeans and other essentials, Harry began to change.

Harry had to admit that Remus did a good job decorating the room. There was a bed next to the window with a red quilt and yellow sheets. A desk and chair against one wall and a dresser against another. Next to his bed was a nightstand. The floor was covered with soft carpet that was a shade or two lighter than his sheets.

The room needed posters, decided Harry. The walls were too bare.

With that thought Harry walked into the kitchen/dining room, which was separated from the living room only by a divider that provided more counter space. He cautiously approached Sirius, who appeared to be cooking… something. Harry wasn't really sure what Sirius was making.

"Is that supposed to be edible?"

"What, you think you can do better?"

"I know I can."

* * *

It didn't take long for Mundungus Fletcher to figure out something odd was going on. Not only were the Dursleys positively cheerful, there was no sign of Harry at all. Normally at this time the boy would be out doing yard work or walking.

He knew quite well what would happen if he failed in his task once more. With that in mind he went to investigate.

* * *

Emma showed her guests to her office, careful to avoid any area the students were likely to be in. She hadn't expected Sirius Black to bring a teenage boy with him and was unsure of what to make of it.

Once they were seated, Emma said, "How may I help you, Mr. Black?"

"I have need of your skills as a telepath."

Her eyes narrowed. "I believe that is what Ms. Steed and Mrs. Szardos are for."

"I trust neither the Black Queen or the Red Queen for this task," explained Mr. Black.

"What task might that be?"

"A legilimens, our kind's version of a telepath had free reign of my godson's mind this past school year, supposedly to teach him occlumency. I believe the legilimens may have harmed his mind in some way."

"Well he certainly wasn't trying to teach me," muttered the boy.

"Then why did you allow him to do this?" asked Emma.

"I didn't," growled the boy. "I had no choice in the matter."

"I tried to overrule the headmaster, but as an escaped felon, there is only so much one can do," added Mr. Black.

"And in return…"

Black gave her a smirk of sorts. "I press Mr. Shaw to pay the money he owes the Black family."

So he knew that she and Sebastian had… issues. "Agreed. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9am. If you're late…"

"I'll make sure he isn't," reassured Black. "Harry, why don't you go look around? I'm sure there's something you could do."

"Down one flight and to the left. The students are generally either watching television or playing games at this time."

Harry gave them a measuring look, then left the room.

* * *

Harry walked down the hallway toward the sound of a television. It was rather obvious that Ms. Frost was a mutant, not that it bothered Harry. He'd never really cared whether somebody had powers or not.

He just hoped that Ms. Frost would be able to teach him how to shield from Voldemort. Admittedly the scar hadn't hurt much in the past several days, but it was only a matter of time before Voldemort began again.

"You a new student?" asked a girl who stood near the doorway of the room Ms. Frost had sent him to.

Unsure of what to say, Harry settled for vagueness. "In a way."

"I'm Jubilee and that's Paige, Everett, and Jono," she said, snapping her gum.

"Harry."

"If you're not a new student then what are you?" asked a blonde girl (Paige?) sitting by the TV.

"A… part-time student, I suppose," shrugged Harry. "Ms. Frost will be… giving me private lessons three times a week. I won't actually be going here."

* * *

Luna took her time out on the grounds, doing everything from jogging around the island to writing a long, drawn out letter to Harry. In her opinion, this was one of the times when avoidance was for the best.

By the time Luna went back inside, Miss Carlysle was long gone. While Luna did wonder why Miss Carlysle had been there to begin with, she wasn't about to ask.

Miss Carlysle was doing some sort of job for her father that involved heavy use of her powers. It was irrational for Miss Carlysle to give her father a progress report in person, let alone spend two days there.

"Oh poo," said Luna, once she realized that she was lost.

Once again her legs had led her someplace she didn't recognize. Presumably it was in one of the lower levels. Her father was going to be even more upset once he found out that she'd gone somewhere he'd specifically forbade her from entering.

Luna glanced around, trying to figure out the quickest route to the upper levels. She was in a long hallway with doors on either side. Curiosity overruling common sense, Luna began to examine the door next to her.

* * *

Harry leaned against a wall, doodling on a piece of paper as Paige explained the issues mutants in the United States faced. Luckily they'd believed his excuse that they didn't really talk about this sort of thing in the UK.

"So what's you're power?" asked Jubilee.

Remembering that Sirius had already explained that he should not let anybody know that he was a wizard and not a mutant unless he had no other choice, Harry said, "I can speak to serpents and some other types of reptiles."

"Serpents? Really?"

"Yeah." Harry shrugged. He and Sirius had already worked out a cover story for when dealing with other people with powers. "Uncle Sirius, Aunt Andie, Uncle Ted and Tonks have powers as well."

"Who are they?" asked Everett.

"Sirius is my uncle, Aunt Andie is technically a cousin, but I'm supposed to call her aunt, uncle Ted is her husband, and Tonks is their daughter."

"Tonks?"

"Her real name is Nymphadora, but she doesn't let anybody other than Andie call her that," said a voice from the doorway. "Harry, it's time to go."

"This is Uncle Sirius," explained Harry, standing up. "I'll see you guys on Monday."

* * *

"Are you sure?"

Mundungus Fletcher nodded quickly. "Accordin' t' the Dursleys Arry was gone b'fore they woke up today."

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you, Mundungus."

* * *

Luna stood in the doorway, fighting the urge to throw up. This was… horrible. She'd known that her father was more than capable of such things, but knowing and seeing were too very different things. 


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Lubna, what are doing down here?"

Luna felt herself flinch, then back away from the doorway. Shaking, she barely managed to stay upright.

"Sh-she… blood… and I-"

Mr. Wilson closed the door. "Come on Lucetta, let's get you upstairs."

* * *

"Can I go get some posters and more clothing?"

Sirius shrugged, handing him some money. "Feel free to get posters, clothing, piercings, hair dye, books, whatever."

"Wait, you'd let me pierce my ear." Harry blinked, then cursed himself for asking. Sirius might take it back.

"Don't see why not. By the time I was your age I already had seven tattoos and one earring," Sirius said with a shrug. "If you need permission from a guardian, call me and I'll pop over."

"Thanks," said Harry, pocketing the bundle of green bills Sirius handed him. "Wait. Call how?"

"The two-way mirror. I already fixed yours," Sirius explained, tossing a mirror over.

"Does this mean I could get a tattoo if I wanted?"

"I guess, but I'd hold off on that until we have a chance to talk about it. Wizarding culture is a bit strange about body decorations. Get as many piercings as you want, though."

* * *

Luna paced her room, considering what to do. Oh, she knew what needed to be done; she just wasn't sure how to go about it. After all, one wrong move and her father would kill her.

Perhaps… yes. That was the only workable plan.

* * *

As she examined Harry's mind, Emma's anger grew. Even she wouldn't consider doing to another person what had been done to the boy's psyche.

It was readily apparent that before Harry's mind was interfered with, he'd had very good shields… for somebody without telepathic abilities. And an equally strong mind.

For a moment Emma considered using her abilities to… influence Harry's mind as she helped put it back together, however that thought was quickly dismissed. One did not manipulate a member of the Black Family and live a long life. Doubtless Sirius black would have somebody else check to make sure that Emma had done her job properly.

Harry's mind was a horrifying mess. His natural shields had been utterly destroyed, leaving his mind open to direct attack. Even a novice would have been able to tell that Harry had been psychically tortured by a telepath. There were also two separate mind links. One seemed to have been forced on the boy, and was likely the cause of some of his problems. The other… the other was much more unusual. She's encountered links like this before, but they were few and far between.

It seemed to have just started to form, almost by accident. Harry's mind did not try to reject this link as it did the other; instead, it seemed to welcome the link. In fact, the link seemed to be slowly but surely helping Harry's mind to heal.

The first thing to do was examine the telepathic links. Emma began by trying to track the link forced upon Harry's mind through the astral plane. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to figure out where it went to, other than in the general direction of England. Oddly enough, it almost seemed to be connected to Harry's scar.

The other link was much easier to follow. It was new-no more than a few weeks old and weakly connected to Harry's mind. Like the other link, this one led to England, however Emma was able to find who it was connected to… sort of. The person on the other side of the link was a powerful, well taught telepath, however she was exceedingly young. Around Harry's age, if she was even that old.

Emma used the telepathic link to get past the girl's rather extensive shields and into her mind. It was rather obvious that the girl had no idea that the link existed-not yet, at any rate. Emma was amazed at how skilled the girl was with her telepathy, considering the state of her mind. The girl might very well be mentally ill. She very carefully searched until she found the girl's name, not wanting to be discovered. Once she had a name, Emma drifted back into Harry's mind.

* * *

Harry watched Emma carefully, wondering what she'd done to his mind. It had been so different from what Snape had done that he didn't even know how to compare the two. He'd occasionally felt another… presence, gently brush against this own mind, but there had beenn no pain, no reliving of memories.

After several long moments, Emma said, "Harry, did you know that there are two telepathic links in your mind?"

"Tele-what?" said Harry, feeling more than a bit confused.

"Telepathic links. A telepathic link is a semi-permanent link between the minds of two people, generally two telepaths or a telepath and a null. They can be taken out, however it is a dangerous process if both parties don't agree to it. The link allows the people involved to speak to each other mind to mind so long as mental shields are not up and can be used to enter each other's minds or influence thoughts."

Harry paled. "Do you-do you know who I'm linked to?"

"There is an older link that seems to be contributing to the destruction of your mental shields. I believe it's been there for over a decade. I was not able to find who it connected you to. The newer link is no more than a month old." She paused. "It seems to have been formed accidentally-likely in a high stress situation. The person you are linked to doesn't know it exists, as far as I could tell."

"Who?"

"A girl by the name of Luna. I was unable to discover her surname."

That gave Harry pause. "And she doesn't know about the link."

"From what I could tell, the girl had no idea it was there. Although she is a powerful and highly trained telepath."

"And the rest of my mind?"

"All of your natural defenses were destroyed by this… legilimens. Though for what purpose I do not know."

"I can think of a couple reasons why," Harry muttered. "Could you get rid of that older telepathic link? I don't want him in my head."

"You know who you are linked to?"

"Yeah, I've been able to get into his mind before. Of course, he can get into my head as well… He's sent me false visions, fake information. He tried to take over my body two weeks ago. I want that bastard out of my head."

"Tried to take over your body?"

"It's a long story. I fought back and threw him out of my head." Harry thought back, considering what Emma had said. "I think that may have been around when Luna formed that telepathic link. She'd already been taken out of the fight by then."

"I can remove your link to this… Luna girl as well."

Harry thought it over carefully, considering what he knew about Luna. She was trustworthy but more than a bit… strange. There were questions about her mental stability, but her telepathy might actually explain some of that. He couldn't be angry about her not telling him about her powers-most would have thought her crazier than originally suspected if they'd known she heard voices as well. And according to Emma it would be dangerous to remove the link without Luna's participation.

"I'll wait on that. I want to talk to her about it myself." Another pause. "I'd rather just get Riddle out of my head before I do anything else."

* * *

If anybody was watching, they would have seen a most unusual sight, for both the Muggle and Wizarding world. The two occupants of the room were too involved in their world to notice the results.

The moment Harry's connection to Voldemort was destroyed, his scar reacted. If Emma had no been within Harry's mind, she would have seen a strange, black mist rise from Harry's lightening bolt shaped scar. After several long moments, the mist faded into nothingness. One more of Voldemort's Horcruxes had been destroyed.

* * *

"A telepathic connection?!"

"Don't remind me. Please, don't remind me. Anyway, Ms. Frost got rid of it."

Wanda Maximoff looked up from the menu she was scanning, careful not to stare at the table the conversation was coming from. She and Pietro and arranged to meet at a small, out of the restaurant that served some of the best food she'd tasted since the last time she was in Europe. She'd already arrived by the time Pietro's message had reached her. While he could not meet her due to his commitment to X-Factor, Wanda was not about to go back to Avenger's Mansion without having her much anticipated lunch.

It seemed that her decision had been a good one. At the table next to her sat the man and boy talking about telepathy and the White Queen.

The man was rather handsome, in a roguish sort of way. A multitude of visible tattoos and at least one piercing. Wanda couldn't help but admit that the wife beater the man wore did wonders for him. The boy looked much like the man, with the same dark hair and tan skin. Their facial features were somewhat similar as well.

"Snape fucked me over," added the boy. "He completely destroyed my naturally existing shields. Ms. Frost said that starting next lesson we'd work on that."

"Remind me to kill Snivellus," growled the man.

"Maybe Tonks can arrest him for being a Death Eater," suggested Harry.

"She couldn't. Dumbledore would have her… punished for trying to get his pet spy thrown in jail, no matter how much the bastard deserves it."

Her eye's widened, the only visible sign that she'd recognized some of their words. Wanda had little to do with the major magical communities. She preferred it that way. However she did keep track of what was happening. The man and boy were wizards, from the isolationist Wizarding community. The Brittish Wizarding community, judging by their accents and the references to a dark wizard's minions and Dumbledore.

Wanda herself had been invited to Durmstrang when she was a child. She couldn't bring herself to regret that decision. Particularly since she's later discovered that the students at Durmstrang may well have tried to kill her in her sleep because of her less than "pure" parentage.

"It was a thought. Oh, did you know Luna was a mutant?" asked the boy.

"Your friend from the DA? The crazy blonde, right?"

"Yeah, her. She's a telepath. Actually, I think that might be why so many people think she's so crazy. I mean, she's well, you know, now, but I didn't know her before this year. I think her powers might have shown up while she was at Hogwarts." He paused. "Ginny said that she used to act really crazy-starting around three years ago, weirder than she does now. Talking to people nobody else sees and crying or laughing for no good reason."

"That might be it. I know that her mother was a pureblood. The mutant gene couldn't have come from her. But nobody knows what her father is-other than not a wizard." The man paused. "Roxanna, Luna's mother, was one of the best Healers we had during the first war. She worked very closely with your mother. Lily was working on medical potions at the time."

"But I thought Mr. Lovegood was the editor of the Quibbler. How can he do that without being a wizard?"

"Don't know. After the way those Death Eaters that tried to kill Roxanna died, we all just assumed that he was a magical being of some sort that could pass for human. But being a mutant would make just as much sense. Most of the wards meant to protect against Muggles don't work right against mutants."

"Huh. I didn't know that."

"Wouldn't be surprised. The Ministry doesn't like stuff like that getting out. Wait, how did you know Luna was a telepath?"

"We have a telepathic link. Ms. Frost thinks Luna doesn't even know it's there." The boy paused, eating some food. "She said that it happens sometimes during high stress situations."

"The DoM."

"That's what I was thinking. I think it formed when Voldemort tried to possess me. I mean, with what Snape did to my head, I don't think I could have fought off Voldemort without any help. Luna couldn't have known what she was doing, though. She was unconscious at the time."

"Did you get rid of it?"

"Not yet… I wanted to talk to Luna before I did anything. I mean, what if getting rid of the link hurts her? I don't care what happens to Moldyshorts, but I don't want to hurt Luna."

"If you want, we could go back to-"

"I'm waiting for her to reply to my last letter. I'll mention the link in my next letter. Anyway, if nothing else, we'll be at school together for most of the year. It's not like I couldn't find her if need be."

"Are you sure about this? She has free access to your mind."

"Luna… I'd trust Luna more than Hermione with something like this. At least I know that Luna won't run off to the headmaster unless I give her permission to tell him."

"Hermione does seem to have a disturbing love of authority, doesn't she?"

"You have no idea, Sirius." The boy sighed. "I swear, sometimes I think she cares more about the rules than anything else in her life. And you wouldn't believe how fanatical she can get when it comes to school. I just… if it came to a choice between me and school or the government, I'm not sure which she'd pick."

"Who have you told about… this, anyway?"

"Only Luna. But then, she's the only one I've spoken to since school let out. And anyway, I didn't actually say it was you, I implied."


End file.
